Another New Year!

At this time of general optimism, I’d like to join in. I found this on Facebook:

(It might have originated here: https://www.facebook.com/loetta.earnest?fref=photo)

We’re also supposed to look back and, since I didn’t celebrate the 5 year mark and this is the 6th year for this blog, I’ll refer back to one of my first posts:

“The Starting Gate

I'm not at the starting gate for my writing career, but with this new blog! (And with another new blog this month, DialogForMurder, a blog of four ((at this point)) mystery writers) I introduce myself there on Friday.

My writing goals for the year are set:

*get more than 2 measly short stories published (should I count the one accepted for the anthology not yet out? maybe not)

*clean up the novel I have just about completed and run it through my list of agents, querying (CHOKE is the name of the project)

*finish writing the sequel to the one above (SMOKE) (confusing, I know, so the titles are subject to change)

*keep querying the finished YA Neanderthal mystery that I've had some nibbles on (if no agent takes me on, continue the process with small presses)

*think about whether to keep sending an older amateur sleuth mystery to small presses, or whether to do a rewrite

The BIG goal, a publishing contract for any of the three series I'm working on!

Oh yes, maybe I should update my website. It's been awhile!”

I’d like to update those projects from 2010.

*short stories—I had had 2 published in 2008 (one was an Agatha nominee for Best Short Story), then the next 5 were published that year, 2010. So I accomplished that goal! I’ve been setting 6 per year since then as a goal and, if you count reprints, I’ve met it.

*the novel being cleaned up was not published that year, but in 2011. It also gained an Agatha nomination for Best First Novel.

original cover

current cover

*I didn’t change the titles, in fact, SMOKE and BROKE are the two sequels now published for CHOKE. I’m working on STROKE. I got attached to the scheme.

*the Neanderthal as YA didn’t work out, but Untreed Reads picked it up as a straight mystery, DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE. It was nominated Best Historical Mystery of 2013. They are bringing out the sequel, DEATH ON THE TREK, in June.

*the older mystery is now EINE KLEINE MURDER and is published by Barking Rain Press. It got a Silver Falchion Finalist award and BRP will publish that sequel, REQUIEM IN RED, in April.

That group blog is long gone and I’ve been in several others over the years. I didn’t get 3 novel contracts in 2010, or even 1, but I eventually got them all published. I’ve also been able to place quite a few short stories and had 3 of them in 2 anthologies this year, 2015.

This has gone on long enough—I’ll post some 2016 goals next week or so. Meanwhile, be on the lookout for a month-long deep discount atUntreed Reads of CHOKE and DEATH IN THE TIME OF ICE.  99 cents apiece!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my readers!